"The theoretical instance the avant-garde form represented has not, however, disappeared. Rather, its function has migrated. For what else is Jameson's totalization of postmodernism itself? In the epoch of modernism, revolutionary art generated its own descriptions of the time or intimations of the future, while for the most part its practices were viewed sceptically, or at best selectively, by political or philosophical thinkers of the left. Trotsky's coolness to futurism, Lukács's resistance to Brechtian Verfremdung, Adorno's aversion to surrealism, were characteristic of that conjuncture. In the period of postmodernism, there has been a reversal of roles. Radical strands in the arts, reclaiming or developing legacies of the avant-gardes, have not been lacking. But no doubt in part because of the disorienting coexistence of the citra-modern, of which there was no earlier equivalent, this 'ultra-modernist' culture has not produced any confident accountof the age, or sense of its general direction. That has been the achievement of Jameson's theory of the postmodern. Here, viewed comparatively, is where the critical ambition and revolutionary élan of the classical avant-garde have passed. In this register, Jameson's work can be read as single continuous equivalent of all the passionate meteorologies of the past. The totalizer is now external; but that displacement belongs to the moment of history that the theory itself explains. Postmodernism is the cultural logic of a capitalism not embattled, but complacent beyond precedent. Resistance can only start by staring down this order as it is."
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Perry Anderson's bromance love letter to Fredric Jameson 😅. Great opening chapters, especially gist of Lyotard's intellectual trajectory, less nuanced tackling that of Habermas. Later chapters discussing Jameson's The Cultural Turn and Anderson's own thoughts on the subject is a bit underwhelming, was really expecting he would add a lot more political-economy in there. Demanding, but quick read, great overview of the debate on postmodernism.

1 month ago2122

Some important thoughts so rarely articulated in mainstream media. #newleftreview#perryanderson . Using French example highlighting why we have yet to see the true potential depth of #antiestablishment voting and that corbyn's "emperor's clothes" moment will likely be the lack of any immigration policy